Draft:Don Theking

Don Theking is a Canadian music producer, DJ, rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, he is known for his creative approach to music and his various instrumentals and DJ mixes. He is also known for being the founder and owner of the Montreal sound system and platform Spaceville Hi-Fi which is designed to push the city's underground music scene through remixes, mashups and exclusive songs that Montreal artists could record for the sound system to gain exposure.

Don utilizes mashups of songs by renowned artists with tracks from lesser-known Montreal artists to showcase the local talent to a global audience. These unique remixes, shared on Spaceville Hi-Fi's YouTube, Soundcloud, and Audiomack pages, have garnered significant attention from various countries worldwide, accumulating thousands of plays. Additionally, Don Theking provides Montreal artists with the chance to record dubplates for the platform and sound system, incorporating shoutouts to Spaceville Hi-Fi in the lyrics. Furthermore, Don creates mashups of these exclusive tracks to further elevate their visibility.

Since starting the platform, Don Theking had received cosigns and shoutouts from major blogs in and out of Montreal and respected Montreal artists including Mike Shabb, Chung, Toronto artist and Canadian Hip Hop pioneer Michie Mee and more.

Early life
Don Theking was born in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in the borough of Lasalle. Throughout his childhood, he had aspirations of becoming an inventor. Raised in a Jamaican and Grenadian household, he was exposed to various genres of music from a young age. Don developed a love for music such as Reggae, Dancehall, Hip Hop, R&B and Gospel, through his parents' influence. Attending music events like Caribana, Reggae Fest, and Vincy picnic with his family further fueled his passion for music. Don was fascinated by his father's ability to enhance the sound quality of music through car speakers and amplifiers. He also enjoyed attending church with his parents and developed an admiration towards the musicians and singers performing.

Don Theking has had a strong passion for art, writing, and music since he was a child. He would spend countless hours coloring and sketching in his sketchbooks. At the age of 10, he wrote his first rap song while in the fourth grade. Drawing inspiration from artists like 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, Chief Keef and Drake, his favorite genre was Hip Hop. Don also enjoyed creating his own books by writing original stories on printing paper and assembling them together. When he turned 12, his older brother gave him a laptop as a gift. Don then downloaded Audacity and a free trial version of FL Studio to record and produce his earliest music and instrumentals.

Interest in music
During his childhood, Don harbored a deep fascination for music production and often envisioned artists performing over his production. His interest extended to DJing, as he would eagerly observe DJs at family gatherings and barbeques, noting how they energized the crowd. Despite his aspirations to become a music producer or DJ, Don would frequently encounter skepticism from some peers.

2014-2016: Rap beginnings
During high school, Don and his childhood friends formed a rap group called Tha Radical Crew. Don, known as Playa Don, began sharing his music on Facebook, YouTube, and Soundcloud in 2014 at the age of 13. Don participated in rap battles with his friends, drawing large crowds. At 15, in late 2015, he changed his name to Don Theking to create more meaningful music that addressed serious issues in his environment. His music evolved from simply bragging to discussing important topics.

Music production and introduction to DJing
Through his passion for music production, Don Theking would sell instrumentals on YouTube which contributed to him building a following. He produced songs for various artists across Montreal and the United States.

While producing music, Don Theking had aspirations of becoming DJ. Shortly after finishing high school, his aunt and uncle gave him a Numark iDJ Live 2 DJ controller as a gift. He began practicing and creating DJ mixes. He would frequently use his bedroom as a studio to produce and mix instrumentals, DJ mixes and songs.

2020: Creation of the Spacebit sound
Don Theking, a college student, decided to explore new sounds and genres. He shifted his focus towards mid-70s to early 80s Reggae, Dub, Dancehall, and 80s to early 90s R&B. Inspired by these genres, he created a unique sound called Spacebit. Spacebit combined elements of Reggae, Dub, Chiptune, and Synthwave. Don's interest in Reggae, Dub, video games, and the nostalgic vibes of 80s R&B and Pop music greatly influenced this sound. Starting from late 2020, Don dedicated hours to perfecting his sound. He utilized Chiptune drums and synths, Synthwave sounds, a Reggae bounce, and dubbing techniques. The technique of dubbing, pioneered by Jamaican engineers King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry in the late 1960s, played a significant role in shaping Spacebit. It involved manipulating existing songs using reverb, delay, and filters to highlight the instrumentation, drums, and bass while minimizing the vocals. Jamaican culture had a profound impact on Don Theking's music production. He drew inspiration from renowned Jamaican mixing engineers such as King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Scientist, and King Jammy (also known as Prince Jammy). Don referred to his Spacebit instrumentals as Spacedims, a combination of the words Spacebit and Riddim.

2023: Creation of the Bendmix sound
Don Theking had been facing ongoing challenges with copyright issues when sharing his Spaceville Hi-Fi remixes and mashups on platforms such as Soundcloud and Audiomack. However, everything took a turn on November 30th, 2023. On this particular day, Don Theking made a decision to honor the 30th anniversary of the albums "Midnight Marauders" by A Tribe Called Quest and "Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" by the Wu-Tang Clan. As usual, he crafted a mashup incorporating a track from a relatively obscure Montreal artist. Don Theking merged the songs "Oh My God" by A Tribe Called Quest, "Protect Ya Neck" by the Wu-Tang Clan, and "High Waves" by Montreal artist Chung, who hails from Lasalle like Don.

Upon sharing this mashup on YouTube, Don Theking encountered no issues. However, when he attempted to upload it to Soundcloud and Audiomack, it was immediately taken down due to copyright concerns. Since Don lacked access to FL Studio at home, he resorted to using his school account in the library and opened Adobe Audition instead. Don proceeded to lower the pitch of the mashup and incorporated additional effects. Surprisingly, when he uploaded the modified version to Soundcloud and Audiomack, it managed to evade removal. Don repeated this process with other mashups, resulting in some remaining undetected on the platforms while others faced copyright issues despite the modifications made.

Don Theking's remixing and mashup technique involved utilizing pitch bending to change the speed and pitch of the music in the song. He also experimented with reversing vocals to produce a unique sound where the order of the verses were played in reverse. Additionally, he would lower the pitch of the remixes. Don named this style of mixing Bendmix or bendmixing, with the primary goal of avoiding copyright detection systems and taking listeners on a journey through space and time. When Don shared these manipulated remixes on the Spaceville Hi-Fi Soundcloud and Audiomack pages, they rarely faced copyright takedowns. Don also introduced Bendmix Dubs, a variation of Bendmix that included extra elements. These remixes featured snippets of vocals from the original Bendmix fading in and out, along with drum breaks to create a dynamic rhythm that transitioned from slow to fast and back again, while the melody gradually intensified. The aim was to provide listeners with the sensation of traveling through the galaxy.

In regards to the remixes and mashups uploaded by Don Theking on Soundcloud and Audiomack, there are three distinct parts. The initial portion of the remixes features a modified version with added effects, followed by the Bendmix versions in the second half, and concluding with the Bendmix dubs in the third half.

MtlHipHop News
At the age of 16, Don Theking founded MTLHipHop News, an underground Hip Hop promotion platform for the English Montreal music scene in early 2017. Don used MTLHipHop News to promote local artists on the website, Facebook, and Instagram, pioneering the use of Instagram for promoting Montreal's music scene.

Spaceville Hi-Fi
Don Theking, despite his experimentation with his Spacebit sound, had a desire to share it with others. This led him to conceive the idea of launching a sound system called Spaceville Hi-Fii. In Jamaican culture, a sound system typically comprises DJs (known as selectors), MCs (known as the DJs), and engineers who utilize high-quality sound equipment to play Reggae and Dancehall music. The primary objective of a sound system is to energize the crowd and foster a vibrant atmosphere. Don's plan involved having Montreal artists record songs over his Spacebit instrumentals to promote the music and spread the unique Spacebit sound throughout the city. He named the sound system Spaceville Hi-Fi, drawing inspiration from his imaginary futuristic city, Spaceville. According to Don, Spaceville epitomizes advancement, relaxation, and individuality through unconventional approaches. Don's goal was to bring this futuristic mindset to Montreal through the sound system.

In May 2022, Don reached out to DeusGod, an artist hailing from Montreal, to collaborate on a Spacebit instrumental. Don was interested in exploring how a Montreal artist's style would complement Spacebit production. Shortly after, DeusGod produced a track named "Friend No Fiends" and shared it with Don. This exclusive Spaceville Hi-Fi song showcased DeusGod's stance on maintaining a circle free from crackheads. DeusGod treated this track as a dubplate, a special recording created by artists for Jamaican sound systems, where they acknowledge the sound system they are recording for. Despite possessing this exclusive song from DeusGod for Spaceville Hi-Fi, Don remained uncertain about the optimal strategy for launching Spaceville Hi-Fi.

Don Theking had no plan at first but he would come up with an approach on March 2023 when Nate Husser launched his Did It B4 challenge for Montreal producers and DJs. The challenge was to remix his song Did It B4, with the best remix winning a cash prize and a feature on Nate's upcoming album Dark Songs To Drive To. Don wanted to use this opportunity to promote his Spacebit sound. On the final day to submit remixes, instead of creating a new instrumental, Don used the same Spacebit instrumental that he had DeusGod record his exclusive song Friend No Fiends over. Don remixed Nate Husser's vocals from Did It B4 over it and posted it on the Spaceville Hi-Fi Soundcloud page he created on March 31st, 2023. Originally meant to promote his sound Spacebit, Don decided to establish Spaceville Hi-Fi as a platform on April 7th, 2023 at the age of 22 to support and contribute to pushing the Montreal music scene.

How Spaceville Hi-Fi works
Don Theking aimed to support English Montreal artists by creating a platform for the city's underground music scene through showcasing undiscovered Montreal artists. He released remixes and mixtapes on YouTube, Soundcloud, and Audiomack for Spaceville Hi-Fi. He would talk during his DJ mixes in a fashion that is inspired by Jamaican sound system culture. Montreal artists were given the opportunity to record exclusive songs over famous instrumentals, gaining exposure through Spaceville Hi-Fi.

Using mashups as a music promotional tool
During the early days of Spaceville Hi-Fi, Don Theking released remixes that garnered attention but failed to generate the desired number of views. Don came to the realization that the lack of views stemmed from the fact that people outside of Canada were not searching for remixes of songs by Montreal artists. He recognized that the same issue affected the visibility of songs released by Montreal artists in general. In the summer of 2023, Don noticed that people were constantly searching for popular old and new songs, particularly in genres like Hip Hop, R&B, and Reggae. He discovered that he could connect the Montreal music scene to the popular music that people were actively searching for on YouTube. To achieve this, Don decided to make mashups.

Don Theking decided to take a different approach by creating mashups of popular songs by big artists, incorporating a Montreal artist's song into the mix. By marketing these mashups as collaborations between multiple well-known artists, he was able to attract a global audience. This strategy led to significant exposure for the Montreal artist, reaching listeners from various countries such as the United States, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, South America, India, and Africa. As a result, the Spaceville Hi-Fi YouTube channel, along with the Soundcloud and Audiomack pages, experienced rapid growth, accumulating over 70,000 plays in total. Don would produce these mashups using FL Studio or his Numark iDJ Live 2 DJ controller with VirtualDJ.

According to One West Magazine, Don Theking revolutionized music promotion by using mashups to showcase a region's underground music scene. By blending people's favorite artists together in mashups, he allowed listeners to discover talented Montreal artists on their own by sparking curiosity and interest. Each mashup includes the original link to the Montreal artist's songs and their Instagram, encouraging the audience to explore further and support the artists.

Musical influence and style
According to Mack Delfino, Jamaican sound system culture influences Don Theking's operation of Spaceville Hi-Fi. Sound system operators in Jamaica would organize parties and events across the country, connecting powerful speakers to give artists exposure. They would also play exclusive songs for large audiences to dance and enjoy. These sound systems act as radio stations, showcasing upcoming Jamaican artists since mainstream radio stations didn't play much Jamaican music initially. This culture has led Jamaican music to evolve from Ska to Rocksteady, Reggae, and Dancehall. There would also be sound clashes between different sound systems and these battles would determine who had the best dubplates based on the crowd reactions.

Another influence for Don operating Spaceville Hi-Fi is DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican-born DJ who observed the Jamaican sound system culture and replicated it in The Bronx during the early 1970s. DJ Kool Herc set up a powerful sound system and used his merry-go-round technique to play and loop drum breaks from popular Funk songs. Rappers would then rap over these drum breaks, exciting the crowd and contributing to the birth of Hip Hop music and culture. DJs like DJ Kool Herc continued to use this technique at block parties throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with Grandmaster Flash perfecting it through his Quick Mix Theory. This technique is similar to Jamaican sound system selectors playing the Dub version of popular Reggae songs, where Dancehall DJs or MCs would toast over them which would hype up the crowd as they enjoyed the music.